WISE GUY: Rivalry games difficult to forecast

While Eisenhower and Stevenson renew their rivalry Friday for higher stakes, Center Line and Lincoln get together for their annual Brown Jug skirmish that is every bit as intense as the Eagles-Titans fray.

Center Line is 0-7 and Lincoln 3-4, so neither team is headed for the state playoffs.

Advertisement

But the Wise Guy swears on his data plan the outcome of the Panthers-Abes game will mean as much to its participants as the final score of Stevenson-Ike does to its players.

Center Line is going through lean times.

The Panthers won two games each of the last three seasons, and went 1-8 in 2008.

But they can point to three wins in the last seven meetings with Lincoln.

Meanwhile, Eisenhower seeks the victory that will put the Eagles into the playoffs.

Ike is 5-2 with games against the Titans and Cousino left on the schedule.

Stevenson punched its playoff ticket last week when the Titans defeated Chippewa Valley to improve to 6-1.

Want insight into this rivalry? In 2010, Eisenhower had a 10-2 record, while Stevenson was 2-7. In what looked on paper like a mismatch, Eisenhower eked out a 7-3 win over the Titans.

You just never know.

Here is the Week 8 forecast:

FRIDAY, OCT. 12

CENTER LINE at LINCOLN: Bless you, MAC schedule maker. The Panthers and Abes should play in mid-October, when the leaves are turning and the Wise Guy is hunting down his super-duper-warm stadium blanket. In 2002, 2004 and 2005, this game was played in September. Thumbs down to that. Lincoln by 6.

STEVENSON at EISENHOWER: Stevenson has held Ike to single digits three times since 2005. But the Titans have never shut out the Eagles. Ike won 35-0 last year. Eisenhower by 4.